Medical expert urges early treatment of deep vein thrombosis

Dr Osato Agbonlahor, the Chief Medical Director (CMD),
Living Right Hospital, Benin City, has advised Nigerians with cases of deep
vein thrombosis to seek early treatment to avoid complications.
Agbonlahor gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) in Benin on Thursday.

He defined deep vein thrombosis as a blood clot in a deep
vein, usually in the legs.

“Deep vein thrombosis can cause leg pain or swelling, but
also can occur with no symptoms.

“It can develop if you have certain medical conditions that
affect how your blood clots.

“It can also happen if you do not move for a long time, such
as after surgery or an accident, or when you are confined to bed.

“Deep vein thrombosis can be very serious because blood
clots in your veins can break loose, travel through your bloodstream and lodge
in your lungs, blocking blood flow (pulmonary embolism).

“This is a very serious sickness that many people do not
know about,” Agbonlahor said.

According to him, relieving the pain and pressure of deep
vein thrombosis may involve changing of sitting position and more exercise.

The physician said the symptoms of deep vein thrombosis
includes swelling in the affected leg, pain in your leg, red or discoloured
skin on the leg and feeling of warmth in the affected leg.

Agbonlahor said the causes of deep vein thrombosis were
anything that prevents your blood from circulating or clotting normally, such
as injury to a vein, surgery, certain medications and limited movement.

He said that victims could avoid complications with the
application of appropriate medical care on the affected leg.

In the meantime, hundreds of passengers escaped death on
Thursday in Lagos when a mass transit shuttle train derailed at the Ashade
railway crossing on the Agege-Ikeja corridor in Lagos.

The incident, which a Correspondent of the News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) learnt, happened at about 7.15hrs, leaving some of the passengers
injured.

NAN also reports that some personnel from various security
agencies immediately cordoned off the area, to maintain law and order, while
some of the injured were rushed to some hospitals in the neighbourhood, for
first aid treatment.

Mr Augustine Arisa, the Acting Lagos District Manager of the
Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), told NAN that no life was, however, lost in
the incident.

“The derailment happened when the Apapa-bound mass transit
train skidded off its tracks at the Asade Railway Crossing at Agege, on the
Ikeja Corridor.

“The shuttle train was going from Ijoko in Ogun, to Apapa.

“The situation is now under control. We learnt that there
was no casualty in the incident as some of the passengers only had minor
injuries.

“Everything is now under control and we are trying to put
the train back on the tracks,’’ he said.

Arisa, however, confirmed on telephone later that an injured
passenger from the incident was recuperating at the NRC Hospital, Ebute Meta.

NAN further reports that the derailment caused a traffic jam
along Capitol Road, Agege, which also extended to Mosalasi Alhaja, towards
Mangoro area in Ikeja.

NAN reports that on Nov. 16, 2018 a passenger train derailed
around abattoir area of Agege and on June 20 of the same year, a commercial bus
also rammed into a moving train around the Agege corridor.

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